Farrington High School auditorium gutted; structure deemed still sound

State reviewing 9 other schools

Farrington's auditorium roof collapsed in November 2012 after a short downpour, but a report released in late December determined the roof had a major design flaw, with a heavy concrete catwalk attached to the roof's second truss.

Okamura said they've also been diligent about doing their own checks for any potential problems, even recruiting students to report signs of stress or clogged gutters.

Farrington principal Al Carganilla told KITV4 on Wednesday, that equipment and lighting additions by groups like New Hope, were all state approved, but what happened has cranked up their awareness.

“For us, to have all that activity in there, when it could have come down, was fortunate for all of us that nobody got hurt,” he said.

For the past month and a half there's been a big, gaping hole in the roof, letting all the elements in, ruining what was left inside, including 1100 new seats put in just last year, but state engineers determined the structure is sound, recommending a $9 million renovations, instead of a $30 million rebuild.

“My point is, let's do it as soon as possible,” said education board member Brian DeLima at a meeting on Tuesday.

“We've been averting disaster and we've seen it happen and we're lucky. We need to figure out how we prevent that,” said another member, Wesley Lo.

Okamura worries that money and effort to fix Farrington, could take away from their plans to renovate the last of their older buildings.

He just hopes there's enough to go around for some schools still operating on borrowed time.

Other high school's on the list for inspection are: Roosevelt, Castle, Kaimuki, Baldwin, Honoka’a and Hilo High School, along with Kawananakoa Intermediate and Central Middle School.

Asst. superintendent of the School Transportation Services Branch Ray L'Hereux said on Tuesday inspections will be done by the end of January.

At that point, they can determine how to move forward and just how much money it's going to cost.

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